Meatless Monday {2020 - week 17}

So here we are: week 17 of 2020’s Meatless Mondays… 3rd week of being furloughed; we’re carrying on with our routines, best we can as the April showers finally come down, and also been starting some projects in the garden and some cooking and some art…

Here’s what we wore:

Me: Vest: Primark, Long Sleeve Top : Sainsburys TU, Cardigan & Jacket: Tescos F&F, Jeans: Gap, Shoes: Clarks

Boys: Long Sleeve Tops, Jumpers and Trousers: thrifted or gifted from various sources, Vests: Tescos, Shoes: Clarks

Fireman outfit: Pretend to Bee

What’s in my ears:

There’s a post I’ve been tagged in this week on Facebook to post 10 influential albums in 10 days and tag a different friend each day, I am always up for these sorts of posts as I do think it gives everyone a bit of a insight into your world of books or music and tell you about your friends too 🙂 I’m listening right now to an album which I love and haven’t listened to in a while so thought I’d share it with you. In fact ever since music came off CDs and into streaming it has been rare that I listen to a whole album in one go as I do love a shuffle play and a genre based playlist, but there are just some timeless albums where every track is a good one, and this is one of those: Tweet – Southern Hummingbird, do you know it? If you don’t you need it in your world :). It just takes me back to being 19 and living in Bath in my first year of Uni when the world was my oyster 🙂

Here’s my week in 4:

Rainbow Stones: Decorating stones and leaving them on walks for other kids to find is something which I heard about off some other Mummy friends on a walk over a year ago and instantly thought it was a lovely idea. So we decided to try and start a trend in our own village this week, by decorating a bunch of collected stones with just some paint I had lying around and then the designs with Little Brian Paint Sticks and leave them on the next walk we went on round the village. I then made sure to post some photos on the village Facebook page to encourage others to join in. 🙂 It’s been lovely, it was lovely decorating them with the boys and then lovely leaving them on our walk and then coming across them again on future walks. I just think this is such a lovely idea and something all parents of young kids you have a go at if possible to spread a little joy and connectivity at this isolating time 🙂
Baking with the Boys (history repeating): We had a couple of rainy days this week, one day we decided to stay in all day as the weather was cold and wet and so we decided to try some baking, and then I did a YouTube vlog (something that I am trying to build, so if you’d be willing to give me a follow on my channel I’d be much obliged). When I put my KitchenAid mixer on my wedding list I dreamed of the day of baking with littles by my side so it is so special for me to have that dream come to fruition as it is a memory from my own childhood which I completely treasure, what a lovely tradition to continue. I definitely thing that it helps with children’s interest in food and love of food if you can get them involved in cooking it, buying it and growing it wherever you can and with lock down and being furloughed its something which I am so pleased to have time for at the moment 🙂 and hope to find a way to have time for it, even if less frequently, going forward.
Movie Afternoon (popcorn included): The boys are now reaching the point where they just about have enough attention span to watch a film and so the wet day where we decided to go for a wet walk and got soaked, it was lovely to come home and snuggle up on the sofa with a fresh bowl of microwave popcorn and watch an absolute favourite from my own childhood – Homeward Bound. Again this is something which I have dreamt of for years before becoming a parents – so such a beautiful moment to enjoy now its actually happened 🙂
Springtime in the Front Garden: Our front garden is just worth celebrating this week, the front bed is just a picture of all the bulbs which were planted last year, I just love this time of year when everything starts to come up as you know it is just the beginning, I’m just so glad that we have a local gardening company WoodCourt Gardening Services, as their help is so valued in getting us back on track and also helping us keep that way and they are going to come for an isolated visit this coming week. I’ve said it many times but I say it again, it is ok to ask for help and hire help and you help yourself and your mental wellbeing by doing so and you also help local small businesses, it really is win win all round. PS. I know I still need to do a blog post on the front garden transformation from last year, it is on the list once I get my photo filing up to date 🙂

Video of the week:

I’m aware that this section is becoming a dedication to my wonderful virtual mentor Elizabeth Gilbert, but honestly her stuff is just so good, so on point that I am just going to go ahead and keep on sharing in the hope that her light will light up your struggles too and give you just the hope and wisdom you were after to make your day a bit better <3.

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What we ate this week…

Breakfast:

Fresh Tea with milk and honey for my first cuppa in nature in the garden, followed by a cup of water to sip on throughout the morning. Then hot cross buns all round (absolute favourite in our house) and blueberries and grapes and a cup of fresh mint tea with mint from the garden and milk for the boys.

Lunch:

The boys had a snack pot for their mid-morning snack of multigrain shapes, sultanas and carrot sticks and I had a pack of Quavers. Then I did cheese and marmite bagels and fruit for the boys and a mushroom and spinach pie and salad for myself with a glass of grape juice each too. We then had a Go-ahead apple bake bar on our afternoon walk up the hill and I had a cup of decaf earl grey and a cookie when I got home 🙂

Dinner:

For dinner the boys had jacket potato with cheese and beans 🙂 along with some fruit & yoghurt for afters. I had a piece of toast to keep me going whilst I prepped and then leftover brie and tomato pasta (I have concluded that this dish needs to be made with spaghetti and doesn’t really work with pasta shells FYI) and blueberries (2 handfuls), and a dark chocolate and freeze-dry raspberry rice cake for afters (if you haven’t discovered these yet they are YUMMY! and available from Morrisons own brand)